Preface: New challenges in anostracan research, a tribute to Graziella Mura
Preface: New challenges in anostracan research, a tribute to Graziella Mura
Federico Marrone Luigi Naselli-Flores 0 1 2 3 4
. D. Christopher Rogers 0 1 2 3 4
. Paola Zarattini . 0 1 2 3 4
0 D. C. Rogers Kansas Biological Survey and the Natural History Museum (Biodiversity Institute), Kansas University , Higuchi Hall, 2101 Constant Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66047-3759 , USA
1 F. Marrone Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies - Section of Zoology, University of Palermo , via Archirafi 18, 90123 Palermo , Italy
2 Guest editors: Federico Marrone, D. Christopher Rogers, Paola Zarattini & Luigi Naselli-Flores / New Challenges in Anostracan Research: a Tribute to Graziella Mura
3 L. Naselli-Flores (&) Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies - Section of Botany and Plant Ecology, University of Palermo , via Archirafi 28, 90123 Palermo , Italy
4 P. Zarattini Department of Life Sciences, University of Trieste , via Valerio 28, 34127 Trieste , Italy
This special volume of Hydrobiologia is dedicated to the memory of Graziella Mura, who unexpectedly passed away on 23 March 2016 when she was still carrying out her highly influential and worldrenowned research on Anostraca. She provided outstanding contributions to the current knowledge of the taxonomy and ecology of this distinctive crustacean group over the last 45 years. This volume is a tribute to her and her role in anostracan research by the community of anostracan specialists.
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Graziella Mura was born in Milan (Italy) on 7
December 1940. She graduated from the University of
Rome ‘‘La Sapienza’’ (Italy), where she later became
Professor of Zoology. There, she passionately devoted
herself to teaching and research. She established the
‘‘Laboratory of Applied Zoology’’ at the University of
Rome, offering many students the opportunity to train
and make their first research experiences, and
promoting and supervising countless Master and PhD theses.
Her research interests from the first focused on
inland water crustaceans, especially the anostracans.
She co-authored her first publication on Anostraca in
1972
(Cottarelli & Mura, 1972)
, and more than 1 year
after her death, papers with her co-authorship are still
being published, demonstrating her dynamic research
activities until the very last days of her life
(e.g.
Cottarelli et al., 2017; Kappas et al., 2017; Zarattini
et al., 2017)
. The last paper she co-authored before she
April 1983. Professor Graziella Mura sampling in the
temporary pond ‘‘T19’’ of the Castelporziano Presidential
Estate (Rome, Italy), where Chirocephalus diaphanus and
Chirocephalus kerkyrensis co-occur
(see Mura & Cottarelli,
1984)
passed away concerns the protection of the Iberian
endemic Linderiella baetica Alonso &
Garcia-deLomas, 2009, demonstrating her personal
commitment to the protection of this group of crustaceans
(Garcia de Lomas et al., 2016).
In more than four decades of activity, Graziella
Mura described six anostracan species
(Cottarelli &
Mura, 1975, 1984; Cottarelli et al., 2007, 2010)
, and
produced pioneer works on anostracan taxonomy,
ecology and faunistics. In particular, she increased our
knowledge on the importance and significance of
anostracan egg morphology
(e.g. Mura et al., 1978;
Mura, 1986; Mura, 1991, 1992a; Bruner et al., 2013)
,
investigated anostracan use in aquaculture
(e.g. Mura,
1992b, 1995; Mura et al., 1997, 1999; Mura &
Fancello, 2005)
, contributed to the knowledge of
Palearctic anostracan biodiversity and taxonomy
(e.g.
Nagorskaya et al., 1998; Mura, 1999, 2001; Brtek &
Mura, 2000; Mura & Azari Takami, 2000; Mura &
Nagorskaya, 2005; Mura et al., 2011)
, with a special
focus on the genus Artemia Leach, 1819
(e.g. Mura
et al., 1989a, 1989b; Mura, 1990; Mura & Brecciaroli,
2004; Mura et al., 2005, 2006; Amat et al., 2007;
Gajardo & Mura, 2011)
, and produced innovative
works on the molecular systematics and
phylogeography of the group
(e.g. Ketmaier et al.,
2003, 2005, 2008, 2012; Zarattini et al., 2013)
.
Dormancy in Anostraca was one of the main topics
of her research, and she contributed to understand the
mechanisms allowing the hatching of diapause eggs
by investigating the underlying genetic, epigenetic and
environmental causes
(e.g. Mura & Zarattini, 1999;
Zarattini et al., 2002; Maffei et al., 2005)
. She also
compiled the first comprehensive monograph on the
Italian anostracan fauna
(Cottarelli & Mura, 1983)
,
which is still a standard reference in the
westPalearctic. This resulted in her appointment as
coordinator for the ‘‘large branchiopod’’ group
(Branchiopoda: Anostraca, Notostraca, Spinicaudata) for
the ‘‘Checklist of the Italian fauna’’
(Cottarelli et al.,
1995)
and ‘‘CkMap’’
(Mura, 2005)
projects. She was
among the members of the editorial board of Journal
of Biological Research—Thessaloniki since the
beginning of its publication and actively contributed to the
journal management until t (...truncated)